ICC World Cup 2019 | We want to make a statement, declares Ottis Gibson

06/21/2019

South African coach Ottis Gibson has said they would want to end the World Cup on a good note so that the retiring players can finish on a high whereas the younger bunch can make an impact on the global scene. He went on to claim that it was the team’s batting that had primarily let them down.

Participating in their eighth World Cup, South Africa have reached four semi finals over the years. However, their reputation as a cricketing powerhouse has led to people claiming that they have massively underachieved.

This time around too, the Proteas had entered the tournament with high expectations but have had the worst start to any World Cup campaign in their history. They have won only one out of their six matches so far and that too against minnows Afghanistan, who are yet to open their account in the quadrennial tournament.

Though mathematically still in with a shout, South Africa are practically already out of the tournament and all it would take is a couple of wins by India to knock them out for good from a race for a top 4 spot. Though the fact is quite disappointing, Gibson still wants to leave a mark on the way out.

“We’ve still got three games to play and I’d like to think that we can at least play the way we know we can play,” said Gibson, reported Cricket Country.

Veteran cricketers JP Duminy, one of the most successful all rounders in the history of the country, and Imran Tahir, highest wicket taker for the Proteas in the 50 over format, are set to retire post the ongoing tournament. On the other hand, as many as eight out of the 15 squad players are making their World Cup debut.

“The thing about the squad is that there are guys playing their last World Cup and I’d like to think that they will leave the world stage having signed off on a strong note. And there are some youngsters here that I’m sure will play in future World Cups. So they too would like to leave a statement. That’s the way we’ve got to look at it,” the former West Indies all rounder quoted.

The main cause for the team’s failure has been the inconsistency displayed by the batting lineup, with the team having scored 250-plus runs on only one occasion so far in the tournament.

“We’ve not really been able to put enough runs on the board. We don’t have the bowling attack that we wanted to have, therefore we needed more runs to work with,” Gibson added.

The Proteas will play their next game against Pakistan on Sunday at Lord’s.